Guardian
by Flores638
Summary: When the zombie infection reaches the state Of Washington, and all hell breaks loose, the only place to take refuge is Guardian.
1. Chapter 1

**Guardian**

**Lock down Drill**

**(Chapter 1)**

**Josh opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ceiling. "Another day of hell in Spanish class" he thought to himself as he leaned back in his desk. Josh was good at Spanish, so good that he didn't even need to go to the class, of course he was only good because he was in fact Mexican. Josh saw himself as an American first then a Mexican, so naturally he preferred English to Spanish, but he knew just as much English as he did Spanish. It was an easy A for him and the easiest and most boring class of the day even though it was only his second period. Josh covered his face with his hands and laid his face on his desk.**

"**Hey you wanna help me with my Spanish homework" a girl asked sitting next to Josh.**

**Josh knew who it was as soon as he heard the question. It was Riley, the prettiest girl in the class. She was probably 2 inches shorter than Josh was, which but her at around 5'6, she couldn't have weighed more than 120 pounds, she had the prettiest brown eyes and hair in the world, well at least Josh thought so, and she was the nicest, most un stuck up girl he had ever met.**

**Josh lifted his head from the table with a smile.**

"**Sure what do you need help with?"**

**Before Riley could answer, the intercom buzzed to life.**

"_**Attention Students we are now in a lock down, all staff lock the classroom doors, close the blinds and proceed to making your rounds your section of the school buildings. This is not a drill, all students remain quiet tell further instructions."**_

**Josh's Teacher quickly complied with the intercom instructions and left the secure room to check the rest of the schools hallways.**

"**Huh" Josh whispered to Riley, "I wonder what's going on."**

"**Probably a burglary in one of the neighborhoods next door, kind of like last years, remember?" Riley responded as she knelt down onto the floor under Josh's desk.**

"**Yeah most likely" Josh said in a disappointed voice. "I just wish something more exciting could happen like a bomb threat or something to get the adrenaline going…"**

**Just as Josh uttered his last sentence a loud piercing shriek echoed through the hallways, followed by a painful cry.**

"**Holy shit, did you hear that?" Josh exclaimed as he got up to try and look through the door window.**

"**Don't go out there they might see you" Riley urged with worry in her voice.**

_**Thud, thud, thud**_

**Josh turned around quickly before reaching the door, wondering where that thud sound had came from, he scanned his classmates in the room with a questioning face.**

"**Did any of you guys make that sound?"**

**No one in the room responded, they all just stared in horror at the big window in the back of the room as it cracked after each continuing thud from the outside.**

**Josh quickly moved towards the window and pulled the blinds open.**

**There was no one there, just a bloody hand print.**

"**Oh my god some ones hurt out there" Riley cried, "we have to go help him."**

"**Like hell we do" Josh retorted, "were perfectly safe in this room and you want to go help some psycho, crack head thief who just almost busted our window?" **

"**Well I'm going out there you all can stay here if you want, someone needs help."**

**With that Riley stood up and walked towards the door, determined to help the injured person outside.**

"**God damn it, you can't go out there alone, I might as well go with you to help the person out."**

**Josh really didn't care about the person outside, he just wanted to be in Riley's presence, if he could impress her somehow, he thought, he'd have a chance at getting with her.**

**Josh and Riley made their way to the door and walked out leaving behind the rest of their classmates in the room.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Which Way**

**(Chapter 2)**

"**Well which way should we go? Left or Right" Josh asked standing in front of the class room door.**

**Going left would lead them to the main entrance of the school, taking a right would place them outside in the senior parking lot.**

**Josh stood quietly as Riley thought. The halls were quiet except for a constant dripping that was coming from the left down the hallway.**

**Josh turned left and started walking down the hall not waiting for Riley to make a choice. Riley followed quickly behind Josh as they made there way down the hall.**

"**That's odd" Josh whispered to himself, "There's no one in the main office."**

"**Maybe there hiding." Riley replied.**

"**Yeah, maybe, but from what? They're perfectly safe inside; look all the doors are locked"**

**Josh pointed to the two large glass doors that made the entrance to the school. Josh made his way to the glass doors and pushed… they opened.**

"**Oh shit" Josh thought to himself. "Maybe that bleeding guy came through these doors"**

"**If he did" Riley spoke "Wouldn't there be like a trail of blood or something, I mean you saw the blood on the window back in the class room, there was a lot."**

**Josh Thought for a few seconds. "You're right, there'd be blood on the door, or on the floor, let's go find someone to lock these doors, we are supposed to be in a lock down right?"**

**Just as Josh and Riley approach the main offices door a hellish screech pierced the air.**

**Riley turned around instantly.**

"**Look Josh it's the janitor, maybe he has the keys"**

**Josh turned around and backed himself up against the office door.**

"**What's wrong with you it's just the janitor"**

**Josh didn't reply he just stared. "Riley you don't see that?"**

"**See what?"**

**Josh was surprised that Riley hadn't notice it yet. It was the first thing he noticed and it put him in a sort of daze, because standing before him was a man with no life in his eyes and a pool of blood at his feet. The man opened his mouth again and staggered forward; a high pitched screech was unleashed again. The man charged forward towards Riley as she turned to Josh with eyes of despair.**

**Josh grabbed Riley by the arm as the man who was once the janitor lunged forward. All that could be heard was the smack of the man's face as it hammered straight into the office door. Blood splattered all over the window as the man shook his head and turned around.**

"**Fuck what do we do"**

"**We fuckin get the hell outta here that's what" Josh screamed frantically running dragging Riley by the arm.**

"**Where are we going?" Riley cried has she ran down the hall to keep pace with Josh.**

"**To my car in the junior lot"**

"**Why there?"**

"**I have a gun in there, don't ask why just hurry the hell up he's right behind us"**

"**Wait you have a fricken gun in your car… that's against the law you could get suspended or even expelled!"**

"**Yeah, well that's the least of our worries now; some dead guy is chasing us"**

**Riley and Josh ran as fast as they could out the door leading to the junior parking lot with the mad man still behind giving chase. Josh was lucky today, half the junior lot was empty this morning so he parked in the closest spot to the building.**

**Josh unlocked his car with the key remote and opened the door shaking with adrenaline digging underneath the driver's seat.**

"**Hurry up he's almost here"**

**Josh looked out his back window to see the janitor swing the door they'd just came through wide open. The bloodied janitor would be there within seconds and Josh had no time to lose.**

"**Get in the car Riley, NOW!"**

**Riley complied without hesitation, as Josh pulled a gun out from underneath the seat.**

**It was a FN Five-seveN, fully loaded it held 20 5.7X28mm armor piercing rounds and weighed a little less than 2 pounds. It was a shooters gun with bullets meant to replace the common 9x19mm rounds that could be found in almost every Americans household who owned a firearm.**

**Josh swiftly switched the safety off and took aim, he always kept his gun loaded no matter what. His father was scared that people might try to jack him and steal his car, so as a 17****th**** birthday present, Josh received this special, now life saving gun.**

**With his finger on the trigger Josh aimed and fired his first shot at the running crazed man. It hit the man in the chest, center mass, but it had no effect. The man was now 10 yards away and closing fast. Josh fired again, but this time in a panic. He completely missed. Now at only 5 yards away Josh took aim once again and fired.**

**The once hard working janitor now laid 2 feet from where Josh had stood. A hole the size of a finger tip could be seen right between his hollow white eyes. Josh stood in awe at what he had just done. He had just killed a living man.**

**Josh stood frozen with Riley still in the front seat of the car in disbelief at what she had just saw.**

"**He was already dead before I shot him, you saw his face didn't you Riley, he was already dead"**

**Josh quietly got in the front seat of his car and started the engine.**

**The noise of the 4.6liter V8 that was harbored under the hood of Josh's white Mustang rang out through the parking lot and filled the air. **

**As Josh pulled out of the parking place, Riley still in shock, Josh saw from his rear view mirror, what looked to be hundreds of more people running out the door he'd just came from, all with the same lifeless eyes as the man who lay behind them on the ground.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Home Bound**

**(Chapter 3)**

** Riley sat in silence as Josh drove out of the parking lot leaving behind the school and all her friends that she cared about. She had just met Josh six months ago in Spanish class. He had seemed like a nice guy always willing to help people, and he was kind of cute or so Riley thought he was and now Riley was in his car driving who knows where, with hundreds of those things chasing them.**

"**How'd this happen?" Riley questioned herself, staring into her empty lap.**

"**Well hell if I know, but I promise you they won't hurt you as long as you're with me" Josh said reassuringly giving Riley a faint smile.**

**Josh reached the speed limit of 45 mph on the back roads that lead to his house just 2 minutes away from the school driving of course. It would take about 20 minutes to run to his house, so when Josh could no longer see those life less eyes in his mirrors he figured he had about 10 minutes or less before they'd catch up.**

"**Where are we going exactly?" Riley said calmly trying to not to show any fear in her voice.**

"**Well I only have 17 bullets left in my gun, but I have a few extra clips at home in my parents safe, so the way I figure it, is that I go get the bullets and stuff we might need, and you stay in the car and honk the horn if you see those things coming." **

"**Okay" Riley mumbled "but after that where do we go?"**

"**Well I haven't really thought that far yet but if those things are everywhere already than my plan is to go to the mountains and try hiding in the forest, it's a 30 minute drive there on the freeway, I just hope the roads aren't full of those things."**

"**Well let's find out" Riley said, motioning her hand to the radio to turn it on.**

"_**This is John Anderson reporting live from downtown Seattle, where riots have broken out everywhere, these rioters appear to be attacking and biting their victims, it also appears that those bitten seem to become rioters themselves who continue to attack others. It's a bloody mess on the streets. I spoke with the Chief of Police and he told me to advise our listeners to stay inside at all cost."**_

** Just as the reporter stopped talking, Josh pulled his Mustang into his drive way and stopped the car leaving it in neutral.**

"**Okay Riley heres the deal, if I don't come out of the house after you honk, take off without me and head for Snoqualmie, I'll meet you there."**

"**Okay "Riley answered. " But I don't know how to drive stick" **

"**Well just push that pedal to the left of the brake, put the car in gear, there's a diagram of the gears on the knob, and let go of the clutch as you push the gas pedal down, it's not too hard, let's just hope you don't have to drive."**

**Riley gave Josh a weak smile as he opened the car door.**

**Josh ran quickly to his front door, it was locked, but luckily Josh had his house key and opened the door without a problem.**

**Josh made his way up the stairs to his parent's room. No one was home; his parents had gone on a trip to Puerto Rico to visit his Aunt, and his brothers were at work. Josh knelt down to retrieve the safe that was tucked into the back of the closet.**

"**Shit, whats the code...?" Josh suddenly realized he had forgotten it. **


	4. Chapter 4

**The Long Way**

**(Chapter 4)**

**Riley sat in silence listening to the radio as she waited for Josh to return. These so called riots, that the news had been talking about, had spread across the United States and had originated somewhere on the east coast. Many were calling it the end of the world and the fall of the United States. There were also reports that it had spread to Europe and Asia. **

**Riley fixed her eyes on the rear view mirror.**

"**Well I guess things have really hit the fan now." She thought to herself. "Josh is taking way too long."**

** Back inside the house Josh was still struggling to open the safe. If he didn't get the rest of the ammunition there chances of surviving were slim to none. Josh knew what those things outside were. They weren't rioters, they were zombies, something out of horror movies, but none the less they were real.**

"**Now what the hell is the combination…?"**

**As Josh tried various combinations he felt something vibrating in his pocket, he had felt before while they were running from the janitor, but had completely forgotten about it. Josh dug into his pocket and pulled out his IPhone. It was his older brother Aza, he had called 12 times, and Josh was stunned he hadn't noticed that he had called so many times.**

"**Hello?" Josh answered the phone, while continuing to try the safe.**

"**Josh, where the hell are you?" Aza's deep voice crackled through the phones speaker.**

"**I'm at the damn house getting ammo for my gun, where the hell are you? Are you ok?"**

"**Yeah I'm fine" Aza replied, "Listen to me very closely, those things are everywhere especially downtown, do not take the free way and try to avoid the main roads the most you can. Me and my co-workers locked the warehouse down before those things hit town, its safe here, come as fast as you can, we secured the other warehouses next door too. We have guns, ammo and plenty of food. Don't bring anyone who's been bitten and keep a low profile, I'll see you when you get here."**

**Josh nodded his head. "Hey one question"**

"**Yeah, what is it?"**

"**What's the damn combination to the safe?"**

"**You seriously forgot? It's our birthday months 10,10,7, now hurry the hell up and get down here!"**

**Josh hung up the phone and entered the combination, the safe clicked open and Josh proceeded to empty the contents of the safe. There were two clips already loaded and a box of 50 5.7x28 hollow points in the safe (the armor piercing rounds were illegal for civilians to own so he had to make do with the hollow points), as well as a few thousand dollars. Josh didn't touch the money, the way he figured it would be useless. He stuffed the clips into his jeans pocket and locked the safe back up with the money inside it. He picked up the box of ammunition and headed for his room. His phones battery was already running low.**

"**God damn IPhone has the worst battery life, I swear to god"**

**Josh reached his room and found his charger, just then a sound he didn't want to hear pierced the air.**

** Riley's eyes locked on the rearview mirror as she saw the first one of the so called "rioters" heading for her in the car. Riley was frozen for what felt like an eternity as she finally got to her sense and did what Josh had instructed her to do. She reached over the driver's seat and smashed her hand down onto the cars horn.**

**Josh ran as fast as he could down the stairs as he made his way out the front door. Riley saw Josh running towards her with his gun in one hand and a red box in the other. Riley unlocked the doors and Josh threw his things into the backseat.**

"**Let's get the fuck out of here, I know a safe place" Josh said frantically as he put the Mustang GT into reverse.**

**He pulled out the drive way and gunned the gas pedal down to the floor. The thing Riley had seen coming was running straight for them.**

"**Run him over Josh!" Riley screamed**

"**Hell no, I'm not ruining this car with blood, its white, and it'd be a bitch to clean off" Josh retorted.**

**He swerved the car around the oncoming zombie and took a sharp right onto the back roads again. Behind them giving chase were what appeared to be hundreds of zombies, more now than there were last time. Josh quickly shifted gears coming to a comfortable cruising speed of 50 mph in 4****th**** gear. He had only had half a tank of gas and getting to the warehouse without using the main roads would take up most of it, especially with his mustangs V8.**

"**So where is this safe place, you talked about?" Riley asked with a hint of hope in her voice.**

"**It's just on the outskirts of downtown, it's a big warehouse, they have guns, and food. It's safe, my brother told me so."**

"**But on the radio it said to avoid the cities, especially downtown, that's where most of the rioters are!" Riley said unsure of the plan that they were now pursuing. **

"**They're not rioters Riley, they're zombies… ya know the I'm gonna eat you kind, the ones from the movies."**

"**Well whatever they are, we shouldn't go to where they all are."**

"**Don't worry, it'll be fine, were just gonna have to stay away from the main roads and take the long way there." Josh said reassuringly.**

"**What's the place even called?" Riley asked, as she slumped into her seat, staring out the window at the foliage that surrounded the road.**

"**Guardian" Josh said, as he drove on ahead not breaking concentration on the road. The last thing he'd want would be to crash on this road and have to walk the 25 miles to safety.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Down the Hill**

**(Chapter 5)**

"**So how much further tell we get there?" asked Riley waiting patiently for a reply.**

"**I'd say another five minutes, but were gonna have to use a main road to get to the warehouse, I can't see any other way of getting there. Where gonna have to take that bridge over the Green River to get there."**

**The bridge Josh was planning on taking wasn't really a bridge, it was more of an overpass, and ran down a long steep hill. At the bottom of this hill to the right was farm land and to the left new housing developments. If Josh and Riley were able to make it down the hill without drawing any attention they would be home free, or at least Josh thought they would.**

**Josh stopped his car on top of the hill and got out to examine the surrounding area.**

"**Well it looks pretty clear from here, I don't see any zombies out an about, there must be something that's keeping their attention." Josh said happily. **

"**Well don't you think this car will steal their attention, I mean it's pretty loud" Riley said from inside the car. She wasn't willing to get out of it especially if those things were still around.**

"**Don't worry about it, I'm just gonna put the car in neutral and coast down the hill, the engine won't be too loud."**

**Josh got back inside the Mustang and inched forward preparing to let the car roll down the hill. He reached into the backseat and retrieved his phone.**

"**Who you calling?" Riley asked intrigued.**

"**I'm calling my brother; I'll let him know we're on our way there."**

**Josh dialed his brother's number and waited for an answer.**

"**Yeah Josh," Aza answered.**

"**Me and a friend are on our way over there, we're at the big hill, we should be there in like five minutes."**

"**Alright" replied Aza, "But be careful there's a shit load of zombies heading down the street at the bottom of the hill, if you're not fast enough you'll crash right into them, We put up a fence around the warehouse, wait for us to open it, You'll be surrounded by zombies so your gonna have to be able to hold up in your car while we take them out."**

"**Alright, I think we can do that. See ya in a few."**

**Josh put his phone into his pocket and put the Mustang back into gear.**

"**I thought you said you'd put it in neutral and just coast down?"**

"**Yeah well plans just changed Riley, we're gonna have to go pretty damn fast down this hill to avoid crashing into another one of those mobs of zombies. My brother just told me he can see a crap load of them down to the left of the hill, lucky for us we have to take a right at the bottom, but the bad news is they're gonna be chasing our ass all the way to the warehouse."**

**Josh stepped on the gas pedal and the Mustang roared to live as it started its descent towards the mob of flesh hungry zombies. Quickly shifting gears from 1****st**** all the way to 4****th**** the Mustang was already going over 75mph. The sound of the engine grew louder as the RPM's rose and the cars speed increased, the Mustang looked like a white blur tumbling down the hill.**

"**Oh Shit "Josh screamed, "Those zombies got to the bottom of the hill faster than I thought, we're not gonna be able to make it."**

"**Well just run there asses over" Riley said showing no fear, "This car can take them all!"**

**Josh tapped on the brakes lightly, he needed to reduce his speed, he didn't want to hit those things at over 60mph and risk losing control of the car, or even breaking the windshield, a nice steady 40mph in 3****rd**** gear would do the trick.**

**Josh gripped the steering wheel tight and braced himself for the impact awaiting them at the bottom of the hill.**


	6. Chapter 6

**So Close**

**(Chapter 6)**

** The first zombie to make contact with the speeding Mustang was crushed in an instant, as the 18 inch rims became drenched in red blood splatter. The bodies that took the impact of the car were thrown to the side like rag dolls, all of them cracking their skulls upon impact with the concrete.**

"**God damn it, they dented my hood…"Josh moaned as he rocked back in forth in the driver's seat. **

**With the frontal approach Josh took, only ten zombies were left able to move, he had hit over 15 of those things on the way down, he even had a nice cracked windshield to prove it. Josh turned right heading for the safety of Guardian, when suddenly he noticed a hand gripping on to the back of the spoiler.**

"**Umm, Josh one of those things just hitched a ride." Riley spoke calmly as she turned facing the back window.**

**Josh slammed on the brakes in hope that the zombie that had gotten a hold of the car would let go… it didn't.**

**Josh reached into the backseat and pulled out his gun, he switched the safety off and opened the door. He was going to have to take this zombie out on his own, he wasn't going to risk having one of those things break in through the back window.**

"**Riley stay in the car, and lock the doors just in case" Josh commanded as he stepped out onto the concrete street slamming the door behind him.**

**Josh walked around to face the creature that had latched onto his car. A wave of sadness hit his emotions like a tsunami, his beautiful car was now bloody and dented everywhere and there was no way he could ever fix it, not how the world was turning now.**

**Josh lifted his gun prepared to shoot whatever he found behind his car, but what he didn't expect was to find a little girl with have her face missing. He had to shoot a child, a little girl, no one could ever be mentally prepared to shoot a child, but in this new world Josh knew it was him or them, and he rather it be her shot than him eaten. So with a swift pull of the trigger the 5.7x28mm bullet sailed through the air into the skull of the little girl. Her body went limp as her hand finally let go of the spoiler.**

**Josh was making his way to his car when he heard a scream.**

"**Josh behind you!"**

**Josh turned around and stood frozen. He had forgotten about the other zombies he hadn't killed with his car. Now those 10 things were running towards him full speed and it was too late to get in the car to drive off safely, Josh was going to have to shoot them all. It wasn't going to be an easy job. Scoring ten headshots on running targets was going to be nearly impossible, but he was going to have to try,**

**Josh took aim and fired, the first zombie to go down was a woman probably in her 30's with long matted bloody blonde hair. A bullet had struck her right through her open mouth and she slumped to the floor being trampled by the nine remaining zombies. Josh fired another volley of bullets this time hitting one in the throat and another in the knee. They both went down, but both would be up any second, josh fired again and again hitting his targets, aiming for the head but usually hitting the nose or cheeks. He continued to fire until all but the two who had fallen earlier were left. He walked slowly towards them and fired, shooting them both in the head.**

**Riley sat in the car in horror at what Josh had just done; he had just shot and killed 11 of those monsters. She felt sorry for him, killing anything takes a toll on one's mind and even Riley knew that, so she told herself she'd try to comfort him when he got back, any way she could.**

**Josh reached the driver side door and put his hand on the handle. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He was still in shock, he had shot them so calmly and now he was about to break down. He turned his head to the ground.**

"**How could of this happened?" he thought to himself. He started to open the door when a hand from underneath the car grabbed a hold of his leg. A face appeared from under and bit down hard on his foot. Josh screamed… **


	7. Chapter 7

**Arrival**

**(Chapter 7)**

**The human mouth contains 32 teeth,** **8 incisors, 4 canines, 8 premolars, and 12 molars which include the four wisdom teeth. All of which are dull compared to carnivores teeth, like lions, tigers and bears. This being the case, it's extremely hard for a human to bite right through rubber and leather. Lucky for Josh his Nike 6.0 were made of both so when the zombie bit down it was unable to penetrate to the skin.**

**Josh looked down and what had bit his shoe and aimed his gun at it. He pulled the trigger.**

"_**Click"**_

**Josh was out of bullets and now the zombie underneath the car was using Josh's leg to pull its self out.**

"**Fuck!" Josh said to himself as he reached into his pocket to pull out another magazine. Releasing the empty magazine from the gun and placing it into his left pocket, Josh reloaded and took aim.**

**This time without incident the bullet left the barrel and made contact with the zombie's skull, twisting and destroying everything inside it. Josh brushed off his leg, removing the zombie's hand from it.**

"**Damn it, I'm gonna have to find some new shoes, damn thing left a hole in the toe box." Josh groaned as he final entered the Mustang.**

"**Why'd you scream like a little girl?" asked Riley as Josh entered the car.**

"**Ha-ha, you're funny… one of those damn things almost bit my foot off." Josh replied.**

"**Oh well I guess that sucks… it looks like it ruined your shoes too."**

"**Yeah, thanks captain obvious."**

"**Sorry, I'm just trying to lighten the mood..." Riley said starring at her own feet.**

"**It's okay… "Josh spoke softly. " Let's get going, we're almost there just another mile or so."**

**With that, Josh started the Mustang and the big V8 roared to live again. As they headed closer to the city, the more crashed cars and overturned trucks he saw on the side of the road.**

"**At least people had the sense to crash on the side of the road" Josh thought to himself.**

**It made driving on the streets so much easier, and out running any zombies that were around the crashed cars was as well. Smoke could be seen rising in the air now as they drove closer to the warehouse.**

"**It should be right here on the left if I remember right" Josh said as he took a right down a side road.**

**Guardian was located in a concentrated area of other warehouses, there were 5 other warehouses including Guardian in this small area. Guardian was the last warehouse hugging the Green River and railroad tracks. As Josh made his way towards the back he noticed something odd.**

"**Look, there's a crap load of cables running too and from each warehouse, they almost look like zip lines." Josh pointed out to Riley.**

**Josh finally found what he was looking for. Hiding behind steel fences and huge road barriers was the Guardian warehouse, and waiting for them on top of the roof was Josh's brother Aza, holding an M-16.**

**Josh waited for the steel doors to open, and with a single motion of his brother's hand it did. Josh pulled in, running over what felt like hundreds of dead bodies as he drew closer to the warehouse. The steel doors slid shut behind them as people, Josh figured were Aza's co workers, motioned him to park in the delivery truck garage.**

**Inside the warehouse were what looked like at least 20 men all carrying M-16's. Among them Josh's brother was making his way to greet him.**

**Josh and Riley both got out of the car and turned to greet Aza.**

"**So you finally made huh?" Aza said with a smile on his face.**

"**Yeah we did" Josh said, happy to see his brother was alive and well. "It was a pain in the ass, but we made it."**

"**Who's that?" Aza said, pointing at Riley.**

**Riley stepped forward and reached her hand out to shake Aza's. "I'm Riley, nice to meet ya."**

"**Well, nice to meet you, I'm Aza, but you can call me Ace, that's what my co workers call me."**

"**Okay, Ace." Riley said jokingly.**

"**I bet ya'll are tired, follow me and I'll show you to the rooms we have set up."**

**Riley and Josh followed close behind, looking up at the clock, Josh noticed it was only 11:30. Only two hours had passed since he was in Spanish class bored to death.**

**Aza showed them to the rooms they had set up. It was on the second floor of the warehouse and was in what looked like an old meeting room. There were a few mattresses on the floor each with one pillow.**

"**It ain't much." Aza explained "but it's all we could grab from the Sleep Country warehouse."**

**Josh smiled and picked a bed closest to the window, he had a good view of where he had just driven from, he could see all the zombies he had killed. Josh closed his eyes for a while and opened them, what he saw next was something he should have known was going to happen. From his window he could see a trail of what looked like hundred of zombies making their way towards the warehouse. They must have heard the gunshots and his car, and now because of him they were all heading towards the warehouse.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hanging loose  
(chapter 8)**

**Josh turned to Aza instantly with a look of fear in his dark brown eyes. Aza knew what was wrong; he'd imagined something like this would happen so he had taken measures to insure the safety of Guardian. From warehouse to warehouse he had instructed his fellow workers to place zip lines connecting all of the warehouses in the surrounding area to Guardian. This was only made possible because Guardian specialized in fall protection equipment and construction supplies. Thus the companies name Guardian Fall protection. With so many building and construction materials available it was easy to fortify Guardian. Aza and his co workers had taken regular chain linked fences and wielded on large panels of steel to cover the holes, that way those things wouldn't be able to climb it. He also had the idea of using these zip lines as a way to shoot the infected before they reached the fences of Guardian.  
"Come on Josh!" Aza spoke, "We have to take those things out before they reach the fences!"**

"How the hell are we gonna do that?" Josh asked scared at what idea his brother had planned.  
Aza was always a creative fearless person who had plenty of great ideas and today he was going to show Josh one of them.

Josh followed Aza as they both ran up another flight of stairs. They had left Riley down in the room to rest, she didn't care where they were going as long as she didn't have to see those things for a while she was content by herself in a safe room with other people around her downstairs with guns.

"Check this out Josh!" Aza exclaimed, holding a harness in one hand a M-16 in the other. "Help me put this harness on."

Josh hurried to aid his brother get the harness on. There were others on the roof as well putting harnesses on, they must have all seen what Josh had because they all had their rifles ready to fire.

"What are you planning on doing?" Josh asked with a curious face.

"Well ya see these zip lines?" Aza explained pointing to the lines. "Me, Chris and Lee are gonna be attached to them in mid air hanging over the only road that leads to Guardian, the only road that those zombies are gonna take."

"So your gonna shoot them from above?"

"Yeap, that's the plan, it's like shooting fish in a barrel except they're humans or at least were human."

Josh just stared blankly as his brother attached himself to the zip line and slowly moved toward the oncoming undead that had now reached the road leading to Guardian.

Down below from the roof top Josh could see many other people lined up behind the fence ready to kill any of the undead that made it through the rain of bullets that would shower them at anytime.

With one nod from Aza's stern looking face he signaled his other harnessed friends to fire upon the running heard of zombies that were finally making their way to what they thought to be there next meal.

Like a symphony of crackles and pops, the M-16s held by those hanging above the undead came to life raining death upon those who had already died.

Josh looked in amazement as his brother fired again and again scoring headshots left and right.

"How could he kill so many of them without any hesitation... "Josh thought to himself.

It had taken him a few minutes before he had killed his first zombie and even now he felt guilty about it. But his brother didn't appear to have any guilt killing the undead as bullets whizzed in the air penetrating so many skulls splattering blood and brains all over the only road to Guardian.

In a matter of minutes the hundred or so undead that found their way to Guardian were dispatched by Josh's brother and his friends. Josh looked down at the road littered with bodies of those who were once filled with life. Bodies that had once been human beings who loved laughed and hated. Humans who had once had emotion now lay motionless on the bloody concrete. Josh sat down on the roof top as his brother made his way back to him. In deep thought over what Josh had just seen his own brother do a single tear ran down the side of his face.


	9. Chapter 9

**Gather **  
**(chapter 9)**

Josh wiped the single tear from his face and stared at his brother who was now getting out of his harness.

"How could he be so cool and calm" Josh thought to himself. Aza and his friends had just killed over a hundred of those things and they didn't even blink. Josh stood up and walked toward Aza and his friends, Chris and Lee.

"Here Josh hold my gun would ya?" Aza asked as he struggled to free himself from the harness.

Josh took the M-16 out of his brother's hand and stared at it with intrigue.

"Where the hell did you guys get so many M-16's from?"

"Well a National Guard unit that came by earlier this morning gave them to us." Aza spoke with a smirk on his face looking at both Chris and Lee.

"They just gave them to you guys? That's just unbelievable..."

"Yeah well, it helps when the National Guards men are just reservists and you just so happen to have friends who are Marines that outrank them."

"Who the hell are your Marine friends?" Josh asked. He didn't even know Aza had military friends let alone Marines.

"Chris and old man Bill" Aza spoke as he finally got out of the harness."Chris here was a Marine but never had to go to Iraq, ain't that right Chris?"

Chris nodded his head. "Yeap my squad never got deployed we were supposed to but our CO was gonna retire and he didn't want any of his boys gettin killed. Nice guy that CO."

Chris was a tank of a man though he only stood 6 feet tall. He had put on some weight after finishing Marine training so Josh eyed him to be about 230 pounds. He had a funny aura around him and just the sight of him would make you laugh.

"You should have seen it" Chris spoke with a toothy smile. "As soon as Old man Bill showed those dip shits his military ID they did whatever he said. They gave us all there extra rifles and pistols and two full crates of ammo, they didn't even notice that his ID said retired."

"Where were those guys heading?" Josh asked Chris

"I think they wanted to use our warehouse as some kinda checkpoint, but Old man Bill scared them off and told them it'd be better if they set it up at the theater downtown next to the train station, that way they could move supplies easier... Those poor bastards, I bet they're being overrun as we speak, that's probably why we haven't seen more of those damn zombies..."

Riley laid on her mattress waiting for Josh to return. She had heard the gun fire but didn't think much of it. It was noon now and she hadn't eaten anything all day.

"When Josh gets back," she thought to herself " We'll go eat something, if this place has anything to eat at all."

Just as Riley started to get up a fairly large women came into the room caring a tray of fruit.

"Hi there hun, my names Kate, Bill told me to go around and start handing out lunch so here ya go."

Kate handed Riley a cup of fruit cocktail and an apple. Kate was a large lady with short blonde hair that seemed to cup her chubby cheeks and face. She seemed like a nice lady to Riley and was probably the receptionist of the company.

"Thank you so much!" Riley smiled happily as she received the food.

Kate was making her way out when she turned around slowly.

"I almost forgot," Kate spoke, feeling dumb she had forgotten. "After you finish here, go down to the main floor Old man Bill is calling a meeting and he wants everyone to be there."

Riley nodded as she ate her fruit cocktail.  
"Who's Old man Bill?"

Josh, his brother, Chris and Lee made their way down into the warehouse.

"Chris and Lee if ya didn't know by now this is my brother Josh." Aza pointed at Josh who was walking right next to him.

"Hey I'm Chris," Chris said giving a goofy wave to Josh.

Josh hadn't known Chris before meeting him just now, but Josh could tell he was a good person.

"I'm Lee," Lee gave a half hearted smile as they kept walking down the hall way towards the room that they had left Riley in.

"Lee here was a pilot in Air force." Chris said nudging Lee's elbow." But they let him go because everyone knows Asians can't drive good let alone fly a plane."

Josh, Aza and even Lee himself laughed at Chris's joke. Lee was Filipino, but as Filipinos go he was a giant, being 6"2 and weighing 210 all of which was muscle made Lee an intimidating guy.

Half way to the room they ran into a big lady carrying a tray of fruit.

"Hey boys," Kate said with a wide smile on her face. "Here's some lunch for y'all"

Kate handed a fruit cocktail cup and an apple to each of the guys.

Each one of the guys thanked her as she handed them their food.

"Oh and before I forget," Kate said rearranging the fruit on her tray. " Old man Bill is calling a meeting and wants everyone there, so finish up and go down to the main floor."

The guys nodded and waved goodbye to Kate as she delivered the next meal to a man down the hall.

"Come on guys let's get going" Aza said as he bit into his apple with a satisfying crunch.

The guys made it to the room they had left Riley in, but it was empty. She had gone down to the meeting. So the guys made their way down to the main floor.

"Umm...Who's Old man Bill?" Josh asked as the rest of the guys were just reaching the last step of the stairwell.

"You'll find out soon enough." Aza said softly as he opened the metal doors that led to the warehouse's main entrance.

Standing on top of a chair was an old guy standing at maybe 5"6. He had perfectly clean creased pants and a perfectly creased plaid shirt. He was clean cut and his hair looked like it hadn't been cut a different way for over 30 years. This was him, Old man Bill, and sitting in plastic chairs staring up at him were the 25 other people who now called Guardian home. These people were now Bill's new platoon. Bill had served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He had reached the rank of lieutenant and retired as soon as the war ended. He was in his late 50's, but he still looked as sharp as ever.


	10. Chapter 10

Deployment  
(chapter 10)

Josh grabbed the nearest plastic chair he could find and pulled it right next to Riley, who was sitting alone in the back of the group as Old man Bill started to speak.

"As you all know," Bill began. "The world as we knew it is gone. It's been replaced by these in human monsters that think of nothing but tearing into our warm human flesh. Just so we are all on the same page here, I'll go over some of the facts we have about this new world. First of all these monsters out there are indeed zombies, secondly they seem to only die when hit in the head. Keep that in mind because hitting them anywhere else is pointless and a waste of time. Also those bitten anywhere by those things will turn into one. We saw this happen to Matt the President of this company and unfortunately we had to put him out of his misery. Now as many of you saw earlier this morning the National Guard has been deployed, they've set up a safety point at the theater downtown now. They've been saying all day over the radio that that's the only safe place left. So this brings me to the reason for this meeting. We have food and water thanks to the Dole fruit warehouse next door and the river behind us. We have weapons and a safe perimeter with steel fences and a big running river behind us to protect us. Unfortunately we don't know how long we'll be able to hold out and this should concern everyone. As your elected leader I believe it my duty to provide you, my friends, the best chance of living. I'm certain that we can survive this together if we stay at Guardian, but if any of you feel otherwise you are welcome to go to the National Guardsmen.

The small room filled with the 25 citizens of guard grew quiet.

"If any of you would like to go then raise your hands now."

Slowly ten different hands went up and a look of discouragement came over Bill's weathered face.

"What the hell is wrong with these people..." Josh whispered to Riley in amazement at how many hands went up.

"Obviously they haven't seen what we've seen. If they had they wouldn't even dare go back out there." Riley whispered back.

Bill cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Since so many of you feel the need to leave and seek refuge with the National Guardsmen then you are free to go. I'll provide you with transportation and protection until you reach the checkpoint, but you will not be able to keep any weapons that have been given to you. I will assign 5 people to go along with you and insure your safety. The rest will stay behind and protect Guardian. Is that understood?"

The ten people who had raised their hands nodded in acceptance of Bills condition. Josh didn't recognize any of those who raised their hands but he thought they were the stupidest people ever.

"Now as for those who will accompany you ten people... Any volunteers?" Bill said with a booming voice.

Aza, Chris and Lee threw their hands up in an instant.

"Great!" Bill exclaimed. "You people are lucky, you've got Guardians best shooters goin to protect you. Now just 2 more people."

A skinny white hand shot into the air.

"I'll go!" a shallow toned voice spoke over the crowd.

"Okay then James you're in. Now just one more person." Bill mumbled scanning over the people who were left.

With out thinking Josh raised his hand high into the air.

"I'll go too." Josh said surprised that he actually volunteered to go back out there. "I've got experience driving with those things in the road."

"Great then you're the 5th guy. What's your name son?"

"Josh, sir."

"Alright then it's settled. Josh, James, Lee, Chris and Aza will escort you ten folks to the Guardsmen. You can leave whenever the trucks ready. God be with you men." Bill gave a sad smile and disappeared into the crowd of people who were now saying good bye to the ten people who were to go with the Guardsmen.

"What the hell are you thinking Josh!" Riley spoke sternly grabbing Josh by the arm. "You want to die don't you!"

Josh grabbed Riley's hand and pried it off his arm.

"Don't worry about me, Aza's got my back, he won't let them hurt me. Just stay here and help out in any way you can because there's only gonna be 10 of you here when we leave."

Riley nodded her head and gave Josh a hard hug.

"You better come back... I don't want to be stuck here with those old guys and the big lady."

Josh laughed and gave Riley a warm smile.

"Hey, I hate to break you to love birds up but we gotta get goin." Aza pointed towards the loading dock entrance.

"We're not love birds, you dumbass." Riley responded giving Aza a stern stare.

"Whatever, let's go Josh."

Josh waved good bye to Riley and made his way to the loading dock.

"Here take this." Aza handed Josh an M-16. "We have extra now that those ten guys are leaving." Aza handed Josh one extra clip.

Josh placed the clip in the back pocket of his fading dark blue jeans. It would be uncomfortable to sit on, but his front pockets were full with his pistol magazines.

"Hey what a sec," Josh said searching his pants. " I forgot my pistol in the car, let me go get it."

"Ahhh don't worry about it kid, you won't need it." Chris gave Josh a nudge as he made his way towards the big delivery truck they would be using to make it to the Guardsmen.

The 10 people who opted to leave filed into the back of the delivery truck as Josh, James, Chris, Lee and Aza all jammed into the front.

"I thought I was driving?" Josh asked as his brother took the driver's seat.

"Nope not today, Bill said not to let you drive, he doesn't want the truck coming back like your mustang." Aza gave a light chuckle and started the big delivery trucks engine.

The steel fences slid apart revealing the only road that led to Guardian. It was all clear except for the zombies they had killed earlier in the day. The truck started accelerating down the road. Destination, the Kent Theater.


	11. Chapter 11

Stranded  
(chapter 11)

Josh's face squished up against the window on the passenger's side as the big white delivery truck barreled down the street heading towards the city. The truck was pretty roomy but with four other guys riding along there was no room to move. James sat staring in his lap as Lee struggled to get comfortable. Aza was focused on the road hitting any zombies that ventured they're way in front of the truck. Chris adjusted his shoulders pushing Josh's face even harder into the window.

"Sorry kid, but there's just no room."

"Its cool man..." Josh said trying to get his face off the window.

Josh hadn't seen many zombies as they made their way closer to the city center. Something must have their attention; Josh thought to himself that had to have been the only reason why there were so few zombies in the streets.

Aza stepped on the brakes, sending the guys in the front heads forward.

"Why the hell are we stopping?" Chris said picking his M-16 up off the floor where it had fallen.

"Well we're only half a mile away from the theater and we still haven't seen many zombies..." Aza said staring at the street ahead.

"So," James said. "Maybe they all went north towards Seattle."

"I doubt it," Aza said. "We need to get a better view of the city."

"Well how do you expect us to do that?" Lee said a little bit annoyed that they had stopped out in the middle of the street.

On one side of the street was an old run down gas station and on the other a small two story building that had a big neon sign that read _Kent Hill Pharmacy. _From the top floor of this pharmacy one could see the Kent Theater directly.

"That second floor right there would be perfect for a look out." Chris suggested pointing to the pharmacy.

Aza looked to where Chris' finger was pointing. The buildings front door was swung wide open with a bloody hand print in the middle of it.

"You think you can clear that building and barricade it?' Aza asked Chris.

"Yeah probably, those National Guardsmen probably attracted all those fuckers over to the Theater."

"Alright then, you and Josh go and be our look outs, you got your phone Josh?"

"Yeah, "Josh said reaching into his pocket to retrieve his Iphone.

"Alright then, call me when you guys clear the pharmacy, we'll come back to pick you guys up after we drop these guys off. Take these binoculars too so you guys can help guide us out of the city center, I think it might help me get out of there alive, especially if those Guardsmen did attract all the zombies to the Theater."

Aza handed Chris the binoculars as Josh opened the door of the truck and jump out onto the cold street holding his unfamiliar M-16. Chris followed close behind as Aza picked up speed in the truck heading for the city center. The streets were barren, just a slight breeze blowing papers in the street could be heard as Chris led Josh into the pharmacy. With his rifle at ready Chris entered the pharmacy with Josh in tow.

When they entered the pharmacy there were pill bottles all over the floor and overturned shelves that were once filled with medicines to cure everyday illnesses. Josh closed the small wooden door behind him as he followed Chris. After a few seconds the bottom floor was cleared without incident.

"Hey, help me put these shelves up against the door in case those damn things aren't really all downtown." Chris said motioning Josh to come help him lift the fallen shelves.

"Yeah, Sure thing" Josh grabbed one end of the shelf and helped Chris place it snuggly against the small wooden door.

"That should do for now," Chris said as he lifted his rifle off the floor. "Now we have to clear the second floor. Josh followed Chris towards the only other door on the bottom floor. Chris turned the door knob slowly and opened it.

There was nothing, just a stairwell that led straight up. Chris took the lead and Josh watched the back in case they had missed a zombie somehow. At the top of the stairs was a small office with a single window that held a clear view to the Theater.

"Call your brother and tell him we cleared the place, I'm gonna see if I can spot him from up here with these binoculars."

Josh pulled out his phone and dialed his brother's number while Chris put the binoculars to his eyes. After two rings Aza picked up his phone.

"Aza, we cleared the place, where you guys at?"

"We're probably about a block away, but it sounds like there's a helicopter or something nearby, ask Chris if he can see anything."

"Hey Chris, Aza says he can hear a Helicopter, you see anything?' Josh asked Chris.

Chris stood frozen looking through the binoculars, because what he saw was something he had never expected to see. Hovering about a half block away from the theater between two small buildings was a Black Hawk helicopter and below it in the streets was what looked to be over thousands of zombies packed onto one block. But what shocked Chris the most was what the helicopter read, _U.S. Navy, _and on board of the black hawk Chris could make out soldiers firing upon the street. They had brought in the Marines to fight these zombies. But one thing bothered Chris; why Kent, why not Seattle or Bellevue, Kent was a pretty small city with nothing really that important in it, so why send in the Marines to help kill the zombies in Kent.

"Well Chris, do you see one or not?" Josh yelled at Chris as he grew impatient.

"Yeah,"Chris said in blank tone. "Tell him it's on the street next to him on the right, there's a shit load of zombies there too."

"Aza, it's on your right hand side behind those small buildings, but Chris says there's a shit load of zombies too, so be careful."

"Alright, I can see the Theater now." Aza said as he continued to drive forward towards the theater.

Protecting the theater from the outside were normal chain linked fences, about 10 feet high and at each pole was a National Guardsmen ready to fire. There were three other Helicopters stationed on the roof of the Theater and what looked like a tank and another vehicle that looked to be from the Army. Aza could see it as he approached the Theater; if his memory was correct the Vehicle he saw was a Stryker probably from , but that Army Base was about a three hour drive away, why would they take the chance of bringing that Stryker to Kent, just to help rescue citizens? There had to be another reason. Aza thought about it as he continued forward.

As the big delivery truck approached the fences the Guardsmen readied their rifles and took aim.

"_You in the white truck, slow down immediately, we will open the gates momentarily, once inside you will be subjected to a full health inspection, those who have been bitten are not allowed in and will be turned away."_

Aza complied with the Guardsmen orders, slowing the truck down to nearly a halt as the fence opened up. There were only a few zombies around, but they were quickly taken out by the Guardsmen. Aza pulled into the parking lot of the theater and waited as a Short bulky man walked up to his door. Aza rolled down his window so he could talk to the Guardsmen.

"I'm just here to drop some people off, they're in the back, none of them are sick" Aza said as he looked down making eye contact with the Guardsmen.

"Alright then, open the back up and show me."

Aza did what he was told and opened the back leaving Lee and James inside the truck. Ten people walked out of the truck and were quickly surrounded by men with rifles.

"If all of you would be so kind, follow Corporal Figgins to the Medical tent to get you all checked, please have I.D. ready as well."

The ten men followed the Corporal into the big white medical tents as Aza made his way back to the truck.

"Your leaving?" the Guardsmen asked.

"Yeah, I've got some friends waiting for me at a warehouse; I just came to drop those guys off like I said."

"You sure you want to leave? It's safe here and we have plenty of food, as soon as we get the order were taking these people onto a big carrier ship on the coast. It's waiting for us as we speak."

"No, I'm fine; I'll just be on my way if you don't mind."

"Okay, suite yourself, can't say I didn't try to save you guys."

Aza got back into the truck and waited for the fence to open up.

"You think what he said is true Lee?" Aza asked Lee with a stern look on his face.

"Not one bit." Lee answered with a serious look on his face.

Josh and Chris paced slowly around the office waiting to see the truck surface from the theater parking lot.

"Hey they're finally coming out." Chris said looking through the binoculars

"About time," Josh said happily.

"Oh shit…."

"What Chris?"

"The helicopter is leaving… it's probably been there all day and is now out of fuel."

"So…. What does that mean?"

"It means that those fuckers are gonna be on top of the truck in no time."

"Fuck I have to call Aza."

Without the helicopter there to distract them the zombies turned their attention to the theater were the fence was closing shut. Like tidal wave thousands of zombies started to run towards the theater, Aza could see them in his rear view mirror as they slammed into the fence, the guardsmen opened fire but it wasn't helping the fence was going to fall any minute.

"Hey Aza, we got a shit load of those guys a following us, so hurry the fuck up and go." James screamed as he looked out the passenger side window.

Aza punched it and started to create some distance between them.

"There's no way were going to be able to pick up Chris and Josh with all those damn things on our ass." Lee said as looked into the rear view mirror.

"Fuck your right… were gonna have to leave them at that pharmacy, I hope they barricaded that place well, were gonna come back tomorrow for them…" Aza said as he drove faster and faster trying to make his way to Guardian as fast as he could. The fences at Guardian would hold up against the hundreds of zombies that now chased Aza, James and Lee, the fences were reinforced with steel plates, unlike the ones at the Theater that fell under so much pressure.

"Josh, I don't think they're coming for us." Chris sat down on the carpet of the small office.

"Why the fuck not?" Josh said, scared that his brother had actually abandoned him.

"The fences at the theater collapsed, there were just too many of those fuckers out there, half of them went to the theater and the other half is following the truck."

"God damn it, I can't believe this shit, I'm calling Aza."

Josh reached for his phone and dialed the number.

"Yeah Jos….."

The phone cut out.

"I can't fucking believe this…"

Josh's IPhone had just died.


	12. Chapter 12

Night Move  
(Chapter 12)

Josh picked up the binoculars Chris had left on the floor. Chris had been in deep thought for the last 20 minutes thinking of what to do next.

Josh looked out across the small city skyline. The sun was starting to go down, it was already 7 in the evening and seeing zombies at night would be hard.

"You think they got to Guardian okay?" Josh asked finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah probably..." Chris sighed. "They better come back for us tomorrow damn it."

"Yeah they'd better, because there's a shit load more of those things out there, now that the National Guardsmen got overruned..."

Chris looked up at Josh and grabbed the binoculars out of Josh's hands. He had an idea.

"Most of those things followed the truck right?"

"Yeah..." Josh answered curiously.

"Well I've got an idea..."

"What?"

"There in the parking lot is one of those Stryker vehicles, we used them in Iraq, we could go and get it and drive to Guardian..."

"Yeah that sounds like a great plan... Except we're a mile away and there's a shit load of those things out there between us and the Parking lot!" Josh said in a agitated tone.

"Yeah I know that ya dummy, that's why we'll go at night, so those things don't see us. We're going weather you like it or not. We move out at midnight, so sleep while you can."

Chris sat back down and closed his eyes. Without any protest Josh did the same.

Riley stood ready on top of the warehouse with an M-16 in her hands. They guys had called in and told Bill that they were being followed by a ton of dead people. He had ordered everyone to get in firing positions to take them out. Riley had only fired a gun once and that was her dad's shotgun. She had shot it enough to be used to string recoils so shooting the M-16 wouldn't be any different, or so she thought.

The trunk came into view and the fences opened for them. Following close behind were what looked like at least 1,000 lifeless eyes. Bill stood next to Riley on top of the Guardian warehouse and took the first shot.

The bullet sailed through the air piercing the skull of what used to be a overweight bald employee of McDonalds. The man had been bitten while in uniform and now he laid on the pavement with the back of his head leaking blood and brains on the already stained street.

Fire erupted from the other rooftops of the surrounding five warehouses. A shower of bullets descended upon the dead. Riley fired a few rounds, missing ever time but getting closer and closer to actually hitting one in the head. After 30 minutes of none stop firing Riley scored her first kill. Hitting an old lady on the right side of her temple. Riley wasn't too happy about killing an old lady but it was her first kill and she had put the lady out of her misery. So she continued to fire with the rest of the people of Guardian until not one of those damn zombies was moving.

The dead bodies had fallen in huge piles blocking the only road out of Guardian. They would have to clear them if they wanted to go back out tomorrow and rescue Chris and Josh.

Riley put the gun on safety and made her way back down to greet the guys with Bill. The truck was parked in the garage, Lee Aza and James all stood in front of it admiring all the blood that had been smeared on the side of the once white truck.

"Glad to see you boys made" Bill said in a booming voice.

Lee, Aza and James all returned small smiles at him.

Riley looked eagerly at the truck, "Where's Josh?" she asked Aza.

"We had to leave him behind..." Aza replied sadly.

"What the hell do you mean leave him behind, that's your own brother and you left him out there with those freaks? What kind of brother does that!"

"I know that's messed up but he's safe with Chris, they're in an old pharmacy barricaded in. Me, James and Lee are gonna pick them up in the morning so don't worry." Aza said trying to calm Riley down. She didn't.

"He might not even make it to tomorrow, what if those things find them and eat them, what then huh? You're an asshole of a brother you know that!"

Riley started to fill with anger. The only person she was friends with that was still alive for sure was now surrounded by those creatures downtown with almost no chance of surviving. The only thing Riley feared more than dying was being lonely and now with Josh gone she ha no one left she really knew she was lonely.

"Look Riley," Aza said taking a step toward Riley, " he'll be okay, I'm going to bring him back tomorrow alive trust me."

Riley turned away and quietly left the garage not saying another word she made her way to the room upstairs.

"Well you better bring that brother of yours back tomorrow, because there's nothing worse than an emotional teenage girl who's lost her love." Bill nudged Aza and motioned him and the other guys to follow him.

"Ya'll did good out there, it's a damn shame those guardsmen couldn't keep those people safe. Come on and get some food, the suns going down, you'll need your rest for tomorrow because I'm sending you boys out early."  
Bill lead the way upstairs where there was a table of canned fruit waiting for each of them.

"God I'm hungry..." Chris mumbled as he awoke from his nap.

"Yeah me too..."

"I take it there's no food here... Damn shame, if only those pills down stairs were gummy bears... I'd be in heaven."

"Your heaven must really suck if it consists of gummy bears." Josh said trying to make light of the fact that they had no food.

"Yeah well anything is better than the world we got now..." Chris said staring at the ceiling. "It's almost midnight; get your stuff ready, we're going out the front door."

Riley sat quietly in her small bed, it was going to be midnight and everyone was asleep except the night watch men that bill had assigned. Riley stood up slowly and made her way down stairs. Grabbing a rifle from a table in the garage she made her way outside. The night air was cold against Riley's face, as she tried to climb the steel fence that protected Guardian, on the outside the fence was just flat steel but on the inside it was still chain linked fence and easy to climb. Making her way slowly over the fence Riley landed on an already dead woman. Riley let out a small scream has she made contact with the dead body but quickly covered her mouth. The look outs on top of the warehouse didn't seem to notice, the only light they could see with was that of the moon. Flashlights would draw attention to the warehouse, and that was something that Bill didn't want happening so at night he shut off all power to the warehouses. Riley gathered herself and started walking down the body filled road, if Aza wasn't going to rescue Josh, then she was before it was too late. He had saved her life now she was going to return the favor.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
(Run 'N Gun)

Josh and Chris made their way down stairs to the front door of the pharmacy. The shelves they had moved to block the door were still intact and undisturbed. Moonlight drenched the streets outside revealing a few zombies that had been left behind in the chase of the truck. Josh and Chris quietly moved the shelves out of the way, knowing that any noise could attract those things outside to them.

"You ready for this kid?"

"No... But I really don't have a choice do I?" Josh said readying himself for what was waiting for them outside.

"Damn right you don't, so don't do anything stupid that'll get us killed ya hear?"

"Yes sir" Josh said in a sarcastic voice.

Chris grabbed the door knob and twisted it slowly. The last thing he wanted was for the door to creek and attract those things to them. The door opened slowly without a noise as Chris took the first step onto the sidewalk. The streets were mostly clear except for about five zombies huddled across the street banging on the old gas station door.

Josh gave a concerned look to Chris. Chris gave a nod that josh read as saying "no way were checking that place out" and they continued to walk slowly away from the pharmacy towards the theater. With every step they took the more zombies they could see standing around in the moonlight. Hugging the shadows they made their way slowly but surely towards the theater. Josh's heart thumped with every step and breath he took. He knew eventually they would be seen by a zombie and would have to shoot it. That wasn't going to be a problem it was the attention it would draw that was.

Josh followed Chris with his gun ready, if he or Chris spoke those zombies would be on them like flies on shit, so in order to communicate they had to use hand signals and gestures.

Chris waved his hand forward and Josh followed closely behind. They walked slowly in the shadows of the street. None of the street lamps were on which meant there was no more electricity in the city.

Walking quietly Chris and Josh finally made it to the road that led straight to the theater. It was going to be a mile walk and with the street appearing to be empty it would be fairly easy to make it there safe and sound.

Josh looked back behind him at the old gas station. The five zombies left behind after chasing the truck were still banging on the gas stations front door.

"there must be a survivor inside..." Josh thought to himself as his gaze quickly shifted to the roof of the station.

"Hey! You down there help me!"

Chris turned to join Josh at gazing at the roof. Standing on top of it was an elderly man about 55 years old, waving his arms side to side.

"I know you hear me, help an old man out!"

The old man picked up what looked like a bottle and threw it towards Josh and Chris. They're eyes locked on the bottle as it traveled towards them. The bottle slammed onto the concrete creating an echoing crash that seemed to ring for ever.

The zombies turned away from the door and started to sprint in Josh and Chris' direction.

There was no doubt about it, the zombies had just spotted Josh and Chris and it was all that old man's fault.

Chris raised his M-16 and fired one shot.

The old man on the roof top slumped down as a mist sprayed in the moonlight from the bullets exit wound. Chris quickly changed targets and began to fire at the zombies running towards them.

With five quick trigger pulls all five of the zombies went limp falling to the ground.

"Let's get the fuck out of here!" Chris yelled grabbing Josh by his arm leading him down the street towards the theater.

Footsteps echoed in the street as Josh and Chris ran their hardest, yet the sound of footsteps weren't theirs. Behind them flowing from buildings and side alleys were hundreds of flesh hungry zombies chasing down their prey.


End file.
